VAX/VMS printer queues stopping

[Steve Nott]

I am running VMS 5.5-2h4 and have a printer connected to a Decserver 90L+ LAT port. If I switch the printer of and on again, the next time I try to print the queue stops. How can I prevent this from happening?

[Volker Halle]

Steve,

welcome to the OpenVMS ITRC forum.

Assuming you are using the LATSYM print symbiont: SHOW QUE/FULL should show /PROC=LATSYM

A LATSYM print queue will be stopped automatically, if there is an error establishing the LAT connection to the terminal server port. You should get an error message (visible via PRINT/NOTIFY or by SET QUEUE/RETAIN=ERROR and then looking at the failed print-job after the queue has stopped: SHO QUE/FULL/ALL queue). What is the error status ?

Note that you can then release the job again: SET ENTRY xx/RELEASE without the user having to re-submit the print job.

Volker.

[Wim Van den Wyngaert]

Most probably you will get "data set hangup". We have a script that restarts the queue if those entries are found (rare now since we're mostly on IP).

Wim

[Volker Halle]

Steve,

a slight correction after checking my real old notes on LATSYM problems:

- if the LAT connect QIO fails, the LATSYM queue will be PAUSED

- if there is an error after the LAT connection has been established, the queue will be STOPPED

In any case, the job will be aborted with an approriate error status, which you can see, if the queue is set to /RETAIN=ERROR

Volker.

[Steve Nott]

Hi Volker & Hi Vim,

Tried this - the error I get is as follows:

%PSM-E-WRITERR, error writing !AS
- SYST-F-HANGUP, data set hangup

The print queue is then stopped and I have to issue a START/QUE and re-print the file.

What I dont understand is why switching the printer off and on when it is idle should cause the print que to stop when I try to print to it later. I have previously run the printer off an ancient Performance 4000 server and did not have this problem.

Many thanks
Steve

[Ian Miller.]

is the printer connection using hardware flow control? Parhaps the DS90 detects the printer being switched off via a change in the signals on the connections but can not report it until data is sent from the VMS system.

[Volker Halle]

Steve,

does the DS90L+ support the Local> SHOW PORT STATUS command ? If so, what happens to the Input/Output Signals if you power-off and power-on the printer ? What's the status after the print failed ?

Volker.

[Steve Nott]

Sorry, I dont know whether the printer is using hardware flow control - it's an Epson lx-1170 dot matrix printer and ther's nothing in the manual to indicate. I'll try checking with the manufacturer.

Steve

[Steve Nott]

The status during the various steps is:

DS90 QUE
Printer operational : CONN IDLE

Printer switched off : LOCAL IDLE

Printer on again : LOCAL IDLE

Attempt to print : LOCAL STOPPED

Restart QUE : LOCAL IDLE

Re-print : CONN BUSY

After print : CONN IDLE

So it seems that the port is dropping into local when the printer is switched off and causes a que failure when attempting to print.

[Volker Halle]

Steve,

I'm not familiar with the DS90 QUE information you've shown. What does 'CONN' mean ? A LAT connection established from the VMS system ? What does MC LATCP SHOW PORT LTAx: show at that time (if the Actual Port/Node Name field is non-blank, there is an established LAT connection) ?

Are you really using the LATSYM print symbiont on that queue ? LATSYM will establish the LAT connection only when the print-job starts and will disconnect, once the print-job has finished. This allows multiple VMS systems to print on the same printer (DECserver port) sequentially.

Volker.

[Volker Halle]

Steve,

it's the ITRC formatting which threw me off ;-(

You're showing that the DS90 port status is CONN after the print has finished (QUE = IDLE) ?! So you must be using PRTSMB instead of LATSYM.

What does SHOW QUE/FULL queue show after the /PROCESSOR= qualifier ?

Volker.

[Steve Nott]

Volker,

Sorry about the confusion - the first word after the action (CONN, OFF, LOCAL) refers to the status of the port in the DS90L+, the second (IDLE, STOPPED, BUSY) refers to the print queue status.

I have checked in LATCP and the Actual Port/Node names are the same as the target names when the printer is operational, but blank out when I switch the printer off.

This would seem to support Ian's suggestion that the DS90L is detecting that the printer is off.

Steve

[Steve Nott]

Volker,

I am not very experienced in VMS, and I don't know what LATSYM is, or how to find if it is being used.

Can you help?

Thanks
Steve

[Volker Halle]

Steve,

sure. If you turn the printer off, the DS90L+ seems to detect that and disconnects the LAT session. If you power off the printer while the queue is BUSY, this would be expected. But - if you are using the correct print-symbiont - the LAT connection should be immediately disconnected, once the print job is finished.

Please what does $ SHOW QUE/FULL queue show as the /PROCESSOR being used for that queue ?

Volker.

[Steve Nott]

Volker,

Tried SHOW QUE/FULL LTA2 and there is no /PROCESSOR= qualifier

Steve

[Ian Miller.]

do SHOW QUEUE/FULL and look at the value of the /PROCESSOR qualifier. Is it LATSYM or PRTSYM or something else?

[Volker Halle · Accepted solution]

Steve,

if there is no /PROCESSOR=image shown, then you're using the default print-symbiont PRTSMB.

LAT queues MUST use the LATSYM print symbiont:

$ STOP/QUEUE/RESET LTA2
$ INIT/QUEUE/PROC=LATSYM LTA2
$ START/QUEUE LTA2

LATSYM uses special LAT QIOs to establish the connection to the terminal-server port before printing and disconnecting the session after the print-job is finished. As there will be no existing LAT connection when the printer is powered off, LATSYM will not notice this and will happily print the next job (after establishng a new LAT connection).

Volker.

[Steve Nott]

Excellent. That has solved the problem.

Thanks to everyone for your help - it is very much appreciated, and I hope I may be able to reciprocate in the future.

Thanks again

Steve

[Steve Nott]

Solution provided by Volke Halle - many thanks